#Chapter 118 – Friend to Friend

Jerome and I stay at my father’s house for the next few hours, until dark begins to encroach on the day, mostly because…well, I can’t think of a graceful early exit that doesn’t make it look like I’m not scurrying off to Kent to tell him everything my father just said. Which, quite frankly, is exactly what I want to do. Instead we stay for the next few hours, drinking Aperol spritzes with my father and my step-mom, chatting lightly and watching as the Romulus runs around the back yard. The sun has already started to fall when Jerome looks worriedly at his phone and taps its face, asking me, silently, if I’ve checked mine at all today. I shrug, silently letting him know I didn’t bring a phone. Jerome’s eyes go wide and he exhales a huge, exasperated breath, so I make my excuses and get us out of my father’s house as quickly as I can. “Are you serious, Fay?” Jerome hisses, taking me by the elbow as we head down the front steps. “You sure as hell sound like a Lippert now,” I